WEBVTT 00:00:01.524 --> 00:00:04.291 I got a text from somebody this week. 00:00:04.291 --> 00:00:08.791 Wait, you were in Kings, and now I'm seeing you're going to be in Ezra. 00:00:08.791 --> 00:00:10.045 What happened to Chronicles? 00:00:10.045 --> 00:00:12.928 We're not going to skip Chronicles, don't worry. 00:00:12.928 --> 00:00:18.364 We're going to do it on a different Sunday night, but we'll hit Chronicles Tonight, though we're going to be in Ezra. 00:00:18.364 --> 00:00:19.228 So turn over to Ezra. 00:00:19.228 --> 00:00:32.396 Turn over to Ezra, chapter 2. 00:00:32.396 --> 00:00:34.207 So that's in the Old Testament. 00:00:34.207 --> 00:00:54.237 You got to go past Kings, past Chronicles, ezra 2. 00:00:54.237 --> 00:00:55.642 I'll start at verse 1. 00:00:55.722 --> 00:01:03.851 These now are the people of the province who came from those captive exiles King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had deported to Babylon. 00:01:03.851 --> 00:01:14.960 They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. 00:01:14.960 --> 00:01:18.043 They came with Zerubbabel, jeshua, nehemiah, sariah, rehaliah, mordecai, bilshan, mispar, bigvi, rahom and Banna. 00:01:18.043 --> 00:01:26.591 The number of the Israelite men included Parash's descendants 2,172. 00:01:26.591 --> 00:01:30.316 Shepthiah's descendants 372. 00:01:30.316 --> 00:01:32.900 Arah's descendants 775. 00:01:32.900 --> 00:01:39.188 Tehoth, moab's descendants, jeshua's and Joab's descendants 2,812. 00:01:39.188 --> 00:01:42.894 Elam's descendants 1,254. 00:01:42.894 --> 00:01:45.557 Zatu's descendants 945. 00:01:45.557 --> 00:01:48.608 Zachai's descendants 760. 00:01:48.608 --> 00:01:51.349 Bani's descendants 642. 00:01:51.349 --> 00:01:54.028 Bebi's descendants 623. 00:01:54.028 --> 00:01:57.849 Azgad's descendants 1,222. 00:01:57.849 --> 00:02:00.888 Adonai Kim's descendants 666. 00:02:00.888 --> 00:02:03.929 Bigvi's descendants 2,056. 00:02:03.929 --> 00:02:06.605 Adin's descendants 454. 00:02:06.605 --> 00:02:09.980 Adar's descendants of Hezekiah 98. 00:02:09.980 --> 00:02:12.665 Bezi's descendants 323. 00:02:12.665 --> 00:02:15.170 Jorah's descendants 112. 00:02:15.170 --> 00:02:17.274 Hashem's descendants 223. 00:02:17.274 --> 00:02:19.622 Gibar's descendants 95. 00:02:19.622 --> 00:02:22.406 Bethlehem's people 123. 00:02:22.406 --> 00:02:24.908 Netopha's men 56. 00:02:24.908 --> 00:02:27.832 And Otha's men 128. 00:02:27.832 --> 00:02:30.316 Asmava's people 42. 00:02:30.316 --> 00:02:35.048 Kiriathim's, jepirah's and Beroth's people 743. 00:02:35.048 --> 00:02:38.074 Rama's and Geba's people 621. 00:02:38.074 --> 00:02:40.604 Micma's men 122. 00:02:40.604 --> 00:02:43.811 Bethel's and Ai's men 223. 00:02:43.811 --> 00:02:48.986 Excuse me, nebo's people 52. 00:02:48.986 --> 00:02:51.367 Magbish's people 156. 00:02:51.367 --> 00:02:54.770 The other Elam's people 1,254. 00:02:54.770 --> 00:02:56.586 Hiram's people 320. 00:02:56.586 --> 00:03:00.550 Lod's, hadid's and Onan's people 725. 00:03:00.550 --> 00:03:03.348 Jericho's people 345. 00:03:03.348 --> 00:03:07.186 Senna's people 3,630. 00:03:08.849 --> 00:03:09.651 I'll stop reading there. 00:03:09.651 --> 00:03:11.174 Let me pray. 00:03:11.174 --> 00:03:19.032 Lord, we're asking again to give us this power in the scripture that we do have. 00:03:19.032 --> 00:03:20.361 All of us who know the Lord. 00:03:20.361 --> 00:03:24.901 We have an anointing from the Holy One and we know all things, but we want to know deeply. 00:03:24.901 --> 00:03:28.629 We want to see and understand scripture as holy as we can. 00:03:28.629 --> 00:03:29.652 So help us tonight in that. 00:03:29.652 --> 00:03:31.141 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:03:33.925 --> 00:03:35.469 Some of you know this song. 00:03:35.469 --> 00:03:37.174 I don't think it's in our current hymn books. 00:03:37.174 --> 00:03:42.551 It might have been in our previous hymn book, when the roll is called up yonder. 00:03:42.551 --> 00:03:45.578 When the roll is called up yonder. 00:03:45.578 --> 00:03:46.606 You might know that song. 00:03:46.606 --> 00:03:49.936 That's a song about heaven. 00:03:49.936 --> 00:03:53.831 Actually, bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise. 00:03:53.831 --> 00:03:58.651 It's a song about heaven, but it mentions calling a roll. 00:03:58.651 --> 00:04:02.045 Now there's the Lamb's book of life. 00:04:02.045 --> 00:04:04.792 That's the list of those who are going to be in glory one day. 00:04:04.792 --> 00:04:10.215 This is a different list, but it's still a list of people that we read. 00:04:10.215 --> 00:04:19.439 And I could have kept going If you scan down there in chapter two, it talks about a number of other people's descendants right there in chapter 2. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:22.750 So go ahead and turn over to chapter 8. 00:04:23.892 --> 00:04:27.346 We'll be skipping around a lot in Ezra to give us kind of a picture of it. 00:04:27.346 --> 00:04:31.153 Look at the way that chapter 8 begins. 00:04:31.153 --> 00:04:40.726 These are the family heads and the genealogical records of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes. 00:04:40.726 --> 00:04:48.946 And then if you look down in chapter 8, it lists another bunch of names and descendants. 00:04:48.946 --> 00:04:50.908 There's another roll call. 00:04:50.908 --> 00:04:53.672 Turn over to chapter 10. 00:04:53.672 --> 00:05:05.065 Chapter 10, verse 18, the following were found to have married foreign women from the descendants of the priests. 00:05:05.065 --> 00:05:09.755 From the descendants of Jeshua, son of Jezadek and his brothers. 00:05:09.755 --> 00:05:11.446 And then it goes on down. 00:05:11.446 --> 00:05:22.088 If you look down the way, the book of Ezra ends is with a list of these names again, the book of Ezra ends is with a list of these names again. 00:05:22.088 --> 00:05:22.629 Now, not all of these lists. 00:05:22.629 --> 00:05:26.437 There's three big lists here One towards the beginning of the book, one in the middle, one at the end. 00:05:26.437 --> 00:05:30.293 They're not all identical but they're all a list of names. 00:05:30.293 --> 00:05:32.918 It's a roll call of sorts. 00:05:32.918 --> 00:05:35.536 It's a roll call for the exiles. 00:05:35.536 --> 00:05:36.440 Go back to chapter one. 00:05:36.440 --> 00:05:37.204 It's a roll call for the exiles. 00:05:37.204 --> 00:05:49.437 Go back to chapter one, the way this book begins. 00:05:49.737 --> 00:06:04.598 In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah, the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus to issue a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom and put it into writing. 00:06:04.598 --> 00:06:14.637 This is what King Cyrus of Persia says the Lord, the God of the heavens, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a house at Jerusalem, in Judah. 00:06:14.637 --> 00:06:17.029 Any of his people among you. 00:06:17.029 --> 00:06:24.317 May his God be with him and may he go to Jerusalem, in Judah, and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who's in Jerusalem. 00:06:24.317 --> 00:06:35.699 Let every survivor, wherever he resides, be assisted by the men of that region with silver, gold, goods and livestock, along with the freewill offering for the house of God in Jerusalem. 00:06:35.699 --> 00:06:47.033 For the house of God in Jerusalem, the people of Israel, the Israelites, the same ones that God rescued out of Egypt and brought into the land. 00:06:47.033 --> 00:06:48.536 This is years and years later. 00:06:48.536 --> 00:06:55.733 They had disobeyed and God allowed the Babylonian people to come in and take them captive. 00:06:55.733 --> 00:07:00.660 So Babylon is pretty far away from where Jerusalem is. 00:07:01.524 --> 00:07:07.697 So at the time of the writing of Ezra, it does kind of pick up where 2 Chronicles leaves off. 00:07:07.697 --> 00:07:18.737 So if you go back at the very end of 2 Chronicles 36, and notice verse 22 there in the first year of King Cyrus, and then verse 23, this is what King Cyrus of Persia says. 00:07:18.737 --> 00:07:23.576 So 2 Chronicles ends with this decree of this King Cyrus. 00:07:23.576 --> 00:07:30.995 If you wanna talk more about that with Kevin afterwards, he would just love to talk with you more about that, but that's not for tonight. 00:07:30.995 --> 00:07:34.951 Well, 2 Chronicles is not for tonight, but Ezra picks up with this decree. 00:07:35.785 --> 00:07:44.817 So the people have been in captivity in Babylon, but then another empire, the Persians, come in and they defeat the Babylonians. 00:07:44.817 --> 00:07:51.718 So King Cyrus is, as you see in verse one there of Ezra, the king of Persia. 00:07:51.718 --> 00:08:01.065 But he sets a decree that Jewish people are allowed to go back to Jerusalem from where they've been scattered. 00:08:01.065 --> 00:08:04.473 They want to do that and help rebuild the house of the Lord. 00:08:04.473 --> 00:08:15.769 So when Ezra opens, the people are in exile and there's a list of all these names at different places of the people that are coming out of exile. 00:08:15.769 --> 00:08:22.459 So God brings his people out of exile, kind of. 00:08:26.026 --> 00:08:34.145 In the New Testament, peter says of us today that we are pilgrims, strangers, exiles. 00:08:34.145 --> 00:08:43.791 Hebrews uses similar language, we're in a different place than the Jewish people, but we're still, in some sense, exiles. 00:08:43.791 --> 00:08:45.953 We're going somewhere. 00:08:45.953 --> 00:08:52.048 So what does this book Ezra have for those of us who are in exile? 00:08:52.048 --> 00:08:58.679 Well, it tells us that God is in charge no matter where we are. 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:02.232 God's in charge no matter where we are. 00:09:03.144 --> 00:09:08.778 Cyrus wasn't David, wasn't Solomon, wasn't David and Solomon's son. 00:09:08.778 --> 00:09:10.770 He was the king of Persia. 00:09:10.770 --> 00:09:22.110 And yet God used this other king outside of the covenant community to get accomplished what he wanted to accomplish to get his people to go back. 00:09:22.110 --> 00:09:28.096 In Isaiah 45, verse one it's a fascinating verse. 00:09:28.096 --> 00:09:33.817 Isaiah says that Cyrus is God's anointed one. 00:09:33.817 --> 00:09:37.293 Yeah, he's his Messiah. 00:09:37.293 --> 00:09:48.711 Not that Cyrus was Jesus, but that Cyrus, this pagan king, god had his hand on him to accomplish a certain purpose in history. 00:09:50.075 --> 00:09:56.451 In Isaiah 44, verse 28, cyrus is called God's shepherd. 00:09:56.451 --> 00:10:00.719 That should be an encouragement for us in exile. 00:10:00.719 --> 00:10:02.572 The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. 00:10:02.572 --> 00:10:03.668 He turns it wherever he wills. 00:10:03.668 --> 00:10:18.013 God's in charge, whether we're in the geographic place we want to be or not, whether we're in the stage of life we want to be or not, whether things seem to be going well in our family and friends or not. 00:10:18.013 --> 00:10:22.919 God's still in charge. 00:10:24.725 --> 00:10:25.666 You see that throughout the book of Ezra. 00:10:25.666 --> 00:10:26.547 I'll have you scan some verses here. 00:10:26.547 --> 00:10:28.389 Look at chapter five. 00:10:28.389 --> 00:10:31.792 Flip over a few chapters here. 00:10:31.792 --> 00:10:42.822 Chapter five, verse five but God was watching over the Jewish elders Chapter 5, verse 12,. 00:10:42.822 --> 00:11:01.633 But since our ancestors angered the God of the heavens, he handed them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the Chaldean who destroyed this temple Doesn't mean that God won't discipline his people, but he's the one that handed them over. 00:11:01.633 --> 00:11:05.025 It wasn't just God was napping and Babylon had a bigger army. 00:11:05.025 --> 00:11:06.388 God was in charge. 00:11:06.388 --> 00:11:09.313 Look at chapter seven. 00:11:09.313 --> 00:11:10.917 Over just two chapters. 00:11:10.917 --> 00:11:18.754 Chapter seven, verse number eight Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month. 00:11:19.796 --> 00:11:24.009 So the book opens these people that are allowed to go back by Cyrus. 00:11:24.009 --> 00:11:25.533 The first wave comes back. 00:11:25.533 --> 00:11:29.167 Ezra, the scribe that the book is named after. 00:11:29.167 --> 00:11:51.599 He comes in kind of another wave of people here in the mid book, but look what it says he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, during the seventh year of the king, verse nine he began the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month since the gracious hand of his God was on him. 00:11:52.985 --> 00:11:54.528 Chapter 8, verse 18. 00:11:54.528 --> 00:11:56.049 Turn there, if you would please. 00:11:56.049 --> 00:11:58.232 8, verse 18. 00:11:58.232 --> 00:11:58.953 Turn there if you would please. 00:11:58.953 --> 00:12:11.767 This is kind of a little mini refrain in this book, chapter 8, verse 18. 00:12:11.767 --> 00:12:15.793 Since the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a man of insight and descendants of Mali. 00:12:15.813 --> 00:12:19.399 Over to chapter 8, verse 31, just down a little ways. 00:12:19.399 --> 00:12:26.798 We set out from the Ahava River on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. 00:12:26.798 --> 00:12:31.635 It's like a big travel log, but God is with them wherever they are. 00:12:31.635 --> 00:12:33.947 Verse 31,. 00:12:33.947 --> 00:12:42.452 We were strengthened by our God and he kept us from the grasp of the enemy and from ambush along the way. 00:12:42.452 --> 00:12:46.475 And this is the case even amidst opposition. 00:12:46.475 --> 00:13:00.828 Even though there's this decree, the people start to rebuild and there are some other regional guys there in Jerusalem and they don't want the building to be successful, and so they start trying to oppose the building. 00:13:00.828 --> 00:13:03.254 Hey, check out some of these historical records. 00:13:03.254 --> 00:13:06.715 These Jewish people, I mean, they've had a history in this area. 00:13:06.715 --> 00:13:08.703 They've done some pretty bad things. 00:13:08.703 --> 00:13:10.187 You don't want to let them build their temple. 00:13:10.187 --> 00:13:11.269 They're bad people. 00:13:11.269 --> 00:13:31.077 So, even though these other bad guys in the book are trying to shape the story of Israel's history in a way that only highlights the negative things, and there's a little bit of success there for a while, and yet God's hand is on them, no matter where they are, even amidst opposition. 00:13:33.264 --> 00:13:41.167 Another thing we can take away as people in exile from this book is that God's dwelling is our destination. 00:13:41.167 --> 00:13:52.350 Yes, the people who are listed here, all these names, they want to go back to Jerusalem to build the house of God. 00:13:52.350 --> 00:13:55.756 You know, it's not just like in Lord of the Rings. 00:13:55.756 --> 00:14:01.857 They want to go back to the Shire just because they were from the Shire and it's so nice and pretty and everything there. 00:14:01.857 --> 00:14:05.514 This is a little more narrowly focused. 00:14:05.514 --> 00:14:12.253 The point is not just we happen to live in a certain geographical region and it gives us a feeling of nostalgia. 00:14:12.253 --> 00:14:15.586 That's the place where God had chose to set his name. 00:14:15.586 --> 00:14:19.414 That's the place where the original temple was constructed under Solomon. 00:14:19.414 --> 00:14:27.815 So they're going back to set up this temple again, because the temple is God's dwelling place and they want to be in the presence of God. 00:14:27.815 --> 00:14:29.886 They want to be where God himself dwells. 00:14:32.150 --> 00:14:33.794 Chapter 1, verse 2. 00:14:33.794 --> 00:14:37.086 I already read this verse, but just to look at it again here, verse 2. 00:14:37.086 --> 00:14:43.950 I already read this verse but just to look at it again here, this king's decree, and it's fascinating. 00:14:43.950 --> 00:14:55.337 He talks about the God of heavens, but he says that he's been appointed to build this God of heavens, a house at Jerusalem, in Judah. 00:14:55.337 --> 00:15:10.871 So even the opening of the book puts our telescope right on the temple, the house of God. 00:15:10.892 --> 00:15:26.937 If you go over to chapter two, towards the end of that chapter, verse 68, after they arrived at the Lord's house in Jerusalem, some of the family heads gave freewill offerings for the house of God in order to have it rebuilt on its original site Chapter 5, verse 2. 00:15:26.937 --> 00:15:28.706 Let's go over chapter 5, verse 2. 00:15:28.706 --> 00:15:30.669 Temple is central here. 00:15:30.669 --> 00:15:38.113 Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, son of Jehoshadak, began to rebuild God's house in Jerusalem. 00:15:38.113 --> 00:15:41.168 The prophets of God were with them, helping them. 00:15:41.168 --> 00:15:43.032 Go over to chapter 6. 00:15:43.032 --> 00:15:45.758 We'll start at verse number 16 of chapter 6. 00:15:45.758 --> 00:15:55.797 Then the Israelites, including the priests, the Levites, the rest of the exiles there's the roll call again celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. 00:15:55.797 --> 00:16:07.309 From the dedication of God's house, they offered 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, as well as 12 male goats as a sin offering for all Israel, one for each Israelite tribe. 00:16:07.309 --> 00:16:12.912 They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem. 00:16:13.373 --> 00:16:19.336 According to what is written in the book of Moses, the exiles second time exiles has been used right here in this passage. 00:16:19.336 --> 00:16:25.652 The exiles observed the Passover on the 14th day of the first month. 00:16:25.652 --> 00:16:35.229 Let's read it Right at the heart of this return to God's dwelling is a celebration of Passover. 00:16:35.229 --> 00:16:42.928 Right at the heart of their dedication of this renewed house are sacrifices. 00:16:42.928 --> 00:16:48.506 If God's going to dwell with his people, there has to be sacrifice. 00:16:48.506 --> 00:16:52.065 That's why the cross should be at the center of our lives. 00:16:52.065 --> 00:16:53.192 If we want to have that relationship with God, there has to be sacrifice. 00:16:53.192 --> 00:16:53.821 That's why the cross should be at the center of our lives. 00:16:53.821 --> 00:16:57.370 If we want to have that relationship with God, there has to be sacrifice. 00:16:57.370 --> 00:17:01.801 And Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed once for all for us. 00:17:01.801 --> 00:17:15.355 So when we think about communion with God, when we think about being in his presence, it here gives us instruction about the nature of sacrifice, the importance of it gives us instruction about the nature of sacrifice, the importance of it. 00:17:15.355 --> 00:17:22.978 And then, last big idea for us to think about tonight as we live in exile. 00:17:22.978 --> 00:17:23.538 God has to change the heart. 00:17:23.558 --> 00:17:30.130 I said at the beginning, ezra is about God bringing the people back from exile, kind of. 00:17:30.130 --> 00:17:32.897 Why did I say that? 00:17:32.897 --> 00:17:37.436 I mean they marched from Babylon, many of them, back to Jerusalem. 00:17:37.436 --> 00:17:41.446 They got the temple all set up Like we're good to go right. 00:17:41.446 --> 00:17:46.884 There's these repeated lists of names and numbers. 00:17:46.884 --> 00:17:51.219 It's almost like the original book of Numbers. 00:17:51.219 --> 00:17:54.063 When the people come out of Egypt, it's almost like the original book of Numbers. 00:17:54.063 --> 00:17:55.984 When the people come out of Egypt, god had redeemed them before. 00:17:55.984 --> 00:17:59.650 He had rescued them, before they had been a mighty nation before. 00:17:59.650 --> 00:18:07.900 But why did they get into exile in the first place? 00:18:07.900 --> 00:18:08.602 They were carefully cataloged. 00:18:08.602 --> 00:18:09.123 God watched over them. 00:18:09.123 --> 00:18:12.522 The book of Numbers lists all these tribes and clans and now it's like they're listing them again. 00:18:12.522 --> 00:18:14.577 They're getting back in the land again. 00:18:14.577 --> 00:18:16.241 Why does it have to happen again? 00:18:16.241 --> 00:18:18.467 How many more times might it have to happen? 00:18:18.467 --> 00:18:22.798 Turn to chapter 3. 00:18:22.798 --> 00:18:32.719 They're out of exile, kind of Chapter 3, verse 10. 00:18:34.565 --> 00:18:47.941 When the builders had laid the foundation of the lord's temple, the priests dressed in their robes and holding trumpets, and the levites descended from asaph, holding symbols, took their positions to praise the lord, as king david of israel had instructed. 00:18:47.941 --> 00:18:50.945 Constructed. 00:18:50.945 --> 00:19:03.896 King David was long dead, but he had been instrumental pun intended in the worship of the original tabernacle and the temple that Solomon was going to build Verse 11,. 00:19:03.896 --> 00:19:10.357 They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, for he is good, his faithful love endures forever. 00:19:10.357 --> 00:19:16.362 Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord because the foundation of the Lord's house had been laid. 00:19:16.362 --> 00:19:36.519 That sounds like some kind of celebration, and it was, but verse 12, many of the older priests, levites and family heads who had seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw the foundation of this temple, but many others shouted joyfully. 00:19:36.519 --> 00:19:46.001 The people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shouting from that of the weeping, because the people were shouting so loudly and the sound was heard far away. 00:19:46.001 --> 00:20:01.288 We do weep out of happiness sometimes, so there could have been an element of this, but it will pick up a bit in other books like Haggai, zechariah, nehemiah. 00:20:01.288 --> 00:20:11.064 Part of what's going on is they remember the glory of the first temple and some of them think it's not quite what it was. 00:20:11.064 --> 00:20:15.250 I mean it's great, and all the people that are seeing it for the first time, this is wonderful. 00:20:15.250 --> 00:20:21.907 The older people remember something even better and they're out of exile, kind of. 00:20:24.816 --> 00:20:32.898 Throughout this book of Ezra you'll see if you read it there's a lot of discussion of bringing precious metals and stones. 00:20:32.898 --> 00:20:39.920 So when they're going to build this temple, they're not just going to look around and like, pick out some random desert trees and try to make it special. 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:42.462 They're not just going to look around and like, pick out some random desert trees and try to make it special. 00:20:42.462 --> 00:20:43.505 They want it like the first one. 00:20:43.505 --> 00:20:49.200 There's gold, there's silver, there's these kind of luxury items and precious stones. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:54.548 And the people bring some of these precious stones from farther away, maybe almost like when they came out of Egypt. 00:20:54.548 --> 00:20:57.720 They plundered, the Egyptians, brought some of their jewels and gold with them. 00:20:59.746 --> 00:21:10.019 But the point of making that tabernacle special is only partial, because the Bible tells us ultimately God doesn't dwell in some human house made with hands. 00:21:10.019 --> 00:21:11.625 He can't be confined to a building. 00:21:11.625 --> 00:21:27.220 Peter, the same Peter who speaks of us as strangers and pilgrims, exiles, says that we're built together as precious living stones on the foundation of Jesus Christ. 00:21:27.220 --> 00:21:34.076 So the ultimate need is for us to be transformed into a dwelling place of God. 00:21:34.076 --> 00:21:38.884 To merely have a physical structure is not the end. 00:21:38.884 --> 00:21:42.128 We are the temple of the living God. 00:21:42.128 --> 00:21:45.481 Paul says in Corinthians Therefore, glorify God with your body. 00:21:45.481 --> 00:21:50.436 We collectively as his body, his bride, the temple of the living God. 00:21:50.436 --> 00:21:56.655 So the preciousness of these things helps us see that they needed a heart change. 00:21:56.655 --> 00:22:00.005 They were in Egypt and they got out. 00:22:00.005 --> 00:22:05.738 Then they came back, but there's still something that's not right about what's going on. 00:22:08.142 --> 00:22:09.083 Over to chapter 9. 00:22:09.083 --> 00:22:13.450 This is just towards the end of the book. 00:22:13.450 --> 00:22:41.146 You might have heard when I read this in chapter 10, verse 18, that last list of people it begins the following were found to have married foreign women. 00:22:41.146 --> 00:22:45.140 It's like okay, I mean, there's just kind of a note about where they're coming from. 00:22:45.140 --> 00:22:53.523 That's actually a warning, it's a red flag In chapter 9, look how it begins here. 00:22:54.685 --> 00:23:18.720 After these things had been done, the leaders approached me so this is Ezra now speaking and said the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the surrounding peoples, whose detestable practices are like those of the Canaanites, hethites, perizzites, jebusites, Ammonites, moabites, egyptians and Amorites. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:29.919 Indeed, the Israelite men have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has become mixed with the surrounding peoples. 00:23:29.919 --> 00:23:34.796 The leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness. 00:23:34.796 --> 00:23:47.019 When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and robe, pulled out some of the hair from my head and beard and sat down devastated. 00:23:47.019 --> 00:23:54.049 In our age that almost sounds kind of like racist. 00:23:54.049 --> 00:23:56.319 Like what do you mean there's wrong for them to take foreign wives? 00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:59.696 Keep in mind the context of what's going on here. 00:24:00.338 --> 00:24:04.018 It wasn't about some all-time prohibition about intermarriage. 00:24:04.018 --> 00:24:10.256 It says right there they took wives that had the practices like the Canaanites, the Amorites. 00:24:10.256 --> 00:24:16.749 Those were the people that were idolaters rather than worshipers of God. 00:24:16.749 --> 00:24:23.988 When they bring idolatry into their homes and families, it never goes well. 00:24:23.988 --> 00:24:34.365 In fact, if you remember back to Bob's message from a few weeks ago, who was the person that was so instrumental in building the first temple? 00:24:34.365 --> 00:24:39.759 Solomon, so the very first temple they had all of its glory. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:45.597 Solomon's the key figure that helped to oversee it and dedicate it. 00:24:45.597 --> 00:24:50.307 What was one of Solomon's biggest downfalls? 00:24:50.307 --> 00:24:56.346 He married foreign women that the Lord had said they'll pull your heart after other gods. 00:24:56.346 --> 00:25:02.307 So it's not an ethnic thing, but it very much is a God thing, right? 00:25:02.307 --> 00:25:10.155 So we need to be careful and passages like this, unfortunately, have been used to teach against inter-ethnic marriage. 00:25:10.155 --> 00:25:13.665 But it's not what the passage is about and that's a pretty significant error. 00:25:13.665 --> 00:25:16.022 So I mentioned from the message this morning. 00:25:16.786 --> 00:25:25.566 Exactly how you view the referent of the stars falling from the sky is not irrelevant, but it doesn't have the same kind of significance because it's still on the same path. 00:25:25.566 --> 00:25:35.246 That's almost a different path, because you're taking God's image and saying God's image isn't good in all people and you're missing the whole point of what's going on here in Ezra. 00:25:35.246 --> 00:25:46.376 What's going on here in Ezra is like what we find in Corinthians, where it says don't be yoked unequally with unbelievers. 00:25:46.376 --> 00:25:48.641 What fellowship does righteousness have with unrighteousness? 00:25:48.641 --> 00:25:48.981 That doesn't mix. 00:25:49.001 --> 00:25:54.029 So even though the people are out of exile, they're still pursuing idolatry. 00:25:54.029 --> 00:26:03.676 They're still willing to let the practices of the peoples around them so influence them that they haven't learned their lessons from the past. 00:26:03.676 --> 00:26:09.907 So the book doesn't end so rejoicingly. 00:26:09.907 --> 00:26:10.127 I don't. 00:26:10.127 --> 00:26:10.970 Is that even a word? 00:26:10.970 --> 00:26:11.476 Not sure. 00:26:11.476 --> 00:26:14.460 But the book doesn't end happy in a sense. 00:26:14.460 --> 00:26:16.281 You might've heard this expression. 00:26:16.281 --> 00:26:17.884 You might have heard this expression. 00:26:17.884 --> 00:26:28.921 You can take the people out of Babylon, but how do you get Babylon out of the people? 00:26:28.921 --> 00:26:30.242 That's what's going on here. 00:26:30.242 --> 00:26:44.795 They needed a heart change and they're still in exile as long as their hearts haven't been changed and transformed. 00:26:44.795 --> 00:26:49.457 Now there is hope for us. 00:26:49.457 --> 00:26:51.221 They do make a proposal and a covenant here to put away this idolatry. 00:26:51.241 --> 00:26:56.137 At the end of the book there is corporate confession and mourning and another side application. 00:26:56.137 --> 00:27:02.829 One of the reasons why we have, on Sunday mornings, a time of corporate confession is because we want to together acknowledge our sin. 00:27:02.829 --> 00:27:15.020 We don't usually do all of the specific kinds of sins that Ezra does here, but Ezra sees himself as part of this group of people and he's wanting the whole covenant body to turn to the Lord. 00:27:15.020 --> 00:27:26.866 Now, even though they have this covenant, it's gonna be an up and down road and we'll see that in other books, like Nehemiah, when we get to the prophet Taggai, zechariah, malachi. 00:27:26.866 --> 00:27:29.221 There's still an up and down road. 00:27:29.221 --> 00:27:37.508 The people are still, in one sense, in exile, waiting for the Messiah, the true cornerstone of the temple, to come to be laid. 00:27:37.508 --> 00:27:42.694 There's an amazing turn that we can find encouragement from. 00:27:42.756 --> 00:27:47.446 I hope, if you'll take just finally this morning or tonight, sorry, go over to Revelation 3. 00:27:47.446 --> 00:27:58.528 While you're going to Revelation, chapter 3, there's a lot of names in Ezra, right. 00:27:58.528 --> 00:28:03.189 There's a lot of names in Ezra, right. 00:28:03.189 --> 00:28:08.199 That was their clan identity, but didn't help them. 00:28:08.199 --> 00:28:11.702 When we're baptized, we're baptized into the name. 00:28:11.702 --> 00:28:13.585 There's our roll call. 00:28:13.585 --> 00:28:15.346 We've got a new name written down in glory. 00:28:15.346 --> 00:28:22.984 We've got the name of Jesus Christ placed over us, that we belong to the people of God, we're part of his assembly. 00:28:24.056 --> 00:28:28.106 And look what it says here in Revelation, chapter 3, verse number 12. 00:28:28.106 --> 00:28:36.288 To the one who conquers, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. 00:28:36.288 --> 00:28:41.881 They're excited to build this temple in Ezra. 00:28:41.881 --> 00:28:49.967 And here's Revelation saying you've got a place coming, I'll make a pillar and temple of my God, and he will never go out again. 00:28:49.967 --> 00:29:00.667 I will write on him not the names of the people who were in exile and had hard hearts and married foreign wives and became idolaters. 00:29:00.667 --> 00:29:04.718 I will write on him the name of my God. 00:29:04.718 --> 00:29:09.887 We're owned and identified by the Lord, not by our sin. 00:29:09.887 --> 00:29:11.029 Isn't that so wonderful. 00:29:11.615 --> 00:29:15.324 God doesn't look at us and see us as sinful people. 00:29:15.384 --> 00:29:16.968 He sees us with the name of his son. 00:29:18.195 --> 00:29:26.561 That's what we have, that's our hope, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from my God and my new name. 00:29:28.655 --> 00:29:32.261 When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. 00:29:32.261 --> 00:29:35.156 Let's pray, lord. 00:29:35.156 --> 00:29:36.603 Oh, thank you, lord. 00:29:36.603 --> 00:29:56.038 Thank you that we have our names written in the Lamb's book of life, that we don't have to be part of the role of sinners though we are sinners, we see ourselves as the chief of sinners yet we've been adopted into the family of God, we've been placed as living stones in this new temple. 00:29:56.038 --> 00:30:03.349 We look forward to the day when this name is given to us permanently and finally, in an even greater way. 00:30:03.349 --> 00:30:14.467 Lord, help us to look back and see that, even though we haven't reached our destination yet, we're there and we're walking as repentant people, hopeful people, expectant people. 00:30:14.467 --> 00:30:22.519 We thank you that you are in charge, no matter where we are, that it's your dwelling that's our destination, and that you have changed our hearts. 00:30:22.519 --> 00:30:31.140 And we want you more and more to change our own hearts and the hearts of those around us, that we might worship you with purity and love In Jesus' name, amen.